OpenText Data Protector 24.4 data backup and recovery has been recently released and provides IT groups with many new features and benefits that increase cyber security and resilience, enhance the user experience through a singular interface and accelerate common backup and recovery tasks. OpenText Data Protector 24.4 is the 2024 Long Term Support (LTS) version of Data Protector which has a fully supported lifetime of three years.

What is new in cyber security and resilience in OpenText Data Protector 24.4?

High security account management

Group Managed Service Accounts (gMSAs) are a type of managed domain account in Windows Server environments that provide enhanced security and simplified management for automated, non-interactive applications, services, processes, or tasks like OpenText Data Protector. Click here you like to try a free test drive of this new OpenText Data Protector version. These are the key aspects of gMSAs:

Key Features of gMSAs

• Automatic Password Management: gMSAs automatically generate and rotate complex 120-character passwords on a regular schedule, eliminating the need for manual password management.
• Multi-Server Support: Unlike traditional Managed Service Accounts (MSAs), gMSAs can be used across multiple servers, making them suitable for server farms or load-balanced environments.
• Enhanced Security: The password is unknown to any person and is managed entirely by the Windows operating system, reducing the risk of compromise.
• Delegated Administration: Management of gMSAs can be delegated to other administrators, allowing for more flexible account control.

Benefits and Use Cases of gMSAs

• Improved Security: By eliminating static, long-lived passwords, gMSAs significantly reduce the risk of password-based attacks.
• Reduced Administrative Overhead: Automatic password management removes the burden of manual password updates and synchronization across multiple servers.
• Application Compatibility: gMSAs can be used with Windows services, application pools, scheduled tasks, and other automated processes that support this account type.
• Single Identity for Server Farms: gMSAs provide a unified identity solution for services running on multiple servers, simplifying client authentication in load-balanced environments.

Technical Details of gMSAs

• Active Directory Integration**: gMSAs are stored as special objects in Active Directory with attributes related to password management.
• Password Retrieval: When applications need the password, they query Active Directory directly, eliminating the need for administrators to know or manage the password.
• Creation and Management: gMSAs are typically created and managed using PowerShell cmdlets which are provided with OpenText Data Protector 24.4.

OpenText Data Protector 24.4 gMSA benefits

• Passwords are automatically managed by Active Directory, eliminating manual password management and reducing risks of unauthorized access.
• gMSAs ensure that the backup and restore services comply with organizational security policies by using secure, automatically updated credentials.
• gSMAs reduce downtime due to credential-related issues since gMSA passwords are updated without requiring service restarts.
• Simplifies managing backup and restore services across multiple servers by using a single gMSA, reducing administrative overhead. (one common gMSA user account for many servers)
• By automatically handling and frequently updating passwords, gMSAs significantly reduce the risk of credential theft, especially for critical operations like backups.
• Isolates the backup service account from other services, minimizing the impact if the account is compromised, ensuring better security posture.

In summary, Group Managed Service Accounts offer a more secure and manageable alternative to traditional service accounts, particularly for organizations running multiple servers or complex application environments that require automated, non-interactive processes like OpenText Data Protector data backup and recovery.

Retention period beyond 2038

Versions of OpenText Data Protector before 24.4 did have a limitation of retention periods of until 2038 based on internal date formats. This limitation has been lifted and retention periods can now extend over 2038.

Higher performance and increased security for SafeZone recovery

SafeZone recovery was introduced in OpenText Data Protector 24.3 allowing IT groups to create a secure data restore instance without physical attack possibilities for highly secure data analysis and safe restore. With OpenText Data Protector 24.4 additional security is implemented by avoiding import from the target cell manager. Ongoing data replication replaces slow data import. Using SafeZone recovery is overall much faster and provides increased security in the latest release.

What is new with the OpenText Data protector User Experience?

Modernized VMware restore workflow

The VMware restore workflow is modernized in OpenText Data Protector 24.4. Both clients, the MFC GUI and the Web interface, take advantage of the new capabilities.

Virtualization granular recovery

For easier VMware data backup and recovery administration, the need for a Data Protector VMware plug-in has been removed.

• No challenges with the new VMware 8 plug-in architecture.
• Supports directories with large files.

The new Web UI makes granular recovery very easy.

• Recover files or folders using the existing mount disk workflow.
• Faster browsing with pagination support.
• Support for VMware.
• Granular recovery also works with Microsoft Hyper-V.

Target host recovery

• New option to recover files.
• OpenSSH needs to be installed if recovering from Linux mount proxy to a Windows system.

Granular recovery reporting

• New interface to see all the recovered requests.
• See all the recovered files and folders.

New remote uninstall of multiple clients

Admins can now uninstall multiple clients in one single workflow giving them more time for the important things.

OpenText Data Protector Magellan reporting

With OpenText Data Protector 24.4 we are moving all reporting from the outdated Reporting Server to the modern business intelligence reporting OpenText Magellan BI & Reporting. Magellan reports are available since several releases and in 24.4 we are adding several additional useful reports. See the images below for example report templates that have been added.

New licensing data view

A new verbose option has been added to retrieve the licensing information. The new verbose option shows details for every item in the license pool of OpenText Data Protector.

Historic aggregate licensing view

New verbose licensing view

Summary of the benefits of OpenText Data Protector 24.4

OpenText Data Protector 24.4 introduces several key features and updates aimed at enhancing security, user experience, and administrative efficiency. The inclusion of Group Managed Service Accounts (gMSAs) improves security with automatic password management and multi-server support, while extended retention periods now allow for data retention beyond 2038. User experience is enhanced through a modernized VMware restore workflow and simplified granular recovery for VMware and Microsoft Hyper-V. Performance and security are bolstered by SafeZone Recovery, which offers faster and more secure data restores. Administrative improvements include the ability to uninstall multiple clients remotely and the transition to Magellan Reporting for modern business intelligence reporting. Additionally, the verbose licensing information provides a detailed view for better management. These updates collectively aim to streamline tasks and improve overall functionality.

Read what was new in OpenText Data Protector 24.3.

Read what was new in OpenText Data Protector 24.2.

Read what was new in OpenText Data Protector 24.1.

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